


Alive Again

by ProbablyaFurry



Series: Ghostly Shenanigans [1]
Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: Denial of Feelings, F/M, Oblivious, Original Character(s), Tags May Change, Vi is about as oblivious as a brick wall
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2020-10-24 11:31:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20705285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProbablyaFurry/pseuds/ProbablyaFurry
Summary: After adjusting to the whole death thing, Snatcher figured that everyone who would be coming back was here already. However it appears that some were more frozen than others. Vi being one of them. Why is she so familiar?





	1. Discovery

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be SUPER self indulgent because I'm too scared to post about my oc x canon ships so this is the first time I've had the confidence to do this

It happened so quickly. Being torn away from the manor and thrown in the cellar, he was stunned. At first, he called out, begging to see someone, to be freed. But no one answered. The only person he saw for the rest of his short life, was her. She had changed, something about her seemed darker, more hostile, and nothing like the happy, loving woman he knew. 

His arms hurt, his throat hurt, and his voice was hoarse. Eventually, he gave up, too tired to hold himself and he slumped against the wall and hung by his arms. He was so cold. So tired. Every time she visited, the chains would bite with cold, stinging his wrists. 

_________________________________________

Snatcher was still shaken up. The cold still lingered in his form, even after death. Despite the fear, he was more focused on creating a new home. He had found many lost spirits, 'Dwellers' he called them, and he had given a few of them physical bodies. Now, they all needed homes. 

The village was small, but it was more than enough for now. Snatcher himself had his own home, a large tree with the center hollowed out. For a few good months, everyone was busy with making the forest livable, so nobody had the chance to mourn for themselves. They needed to repair the pathway to the well, someone needed to put up signs to direct others, and they needed to get rid of all this ice. That was the main problem, ice. 

Snatcher was doing his daily rounds, drifting through the forest and checking in on his 'minions', when he saw something that surprised him. In the burning part of the forest (oops) there was a large chunk of ice. How it hadn't melted, Snatcher had no idea. He approached the chunk and placed a hand on its surface. When he pulled his hand back he saw that it was slick with condensation. So it was melting, just slowly. 

He peered into the ice and saw a body, a familiar body. 

Thinking who it could be, Snatcher drifted away. He had to figure out who that was. He hated having a hazy memory, it was a side effect of death. He could remember bits and pieces of his life, but it made his head hurt and most of what he could remember off the top of his head wasn't happy. It wasn't like amnesia, it was more along the lines of 'I feel like I'm forgetting something'. Death wasn't fun. 

He quickly finished his rounds and floated off to his tree home.The identity of the frozen body tugging at the back of his mind. 

_________________________________________

The next few days, Snatcher returned to the melting ice. He told himself that he was just waiting for the body to thaw so he could give them a proper burial, but there was something lingering. Recognition? It was hard with the thick ice, but he could recognize that face. If only he could remember from where. 

The ice was melting so slowly, that at first, Snatcher couldn't tell anything changed. Eventually, the body was only surrounded by an inch or less, and it was recognizable. 

When Snatcher visited that day, he could finally pin where he saw that face before. It was the bookstore clerk, from way back before he had even left the kingdom to study! She had also been caught in the crossfire of HER rage. Snatcher felt a pang of guilt. She was always so nice, never treating him different than other customers at the bookstore just because he was… 

He felt uncomfortable, this was someone he knew. Maybe the ice had melted enough to at least move her? He grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled, but stopped quickly due to the fact that he heard a crack. He pulled back to see a break in the ice, just around her waist. He decided against trying again. 

_________________________________________

It was dark. She could see nothing but the blazing fires. They seemed so distant. There was a splitting pain around her middle, but other than that, she felt nothing. Amidst the flames, was a twinkling something. She felt drawn towards it. She tried to move, but it felt like swimming through swamp, pushing through murky water so thick you couldn't see the bottom. Regardless, she pushed through. Making her way toward the surface the firelight was reflected in.


	2. Relocation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snatcher gets used to death
> 
> She finally reaches her goal

When Snatcher drifted through the forest, he got acquainted with his new powers as a ghost. He could phase through things, make himself melt into the shadows, travel through the ground, bring things to his hand by simply willing them. He also didn't need to sleep as often. While his 'body' wasn't physically tired, his mind could be. Eating also wasn't as much of a problem, though, he learned quickly that a soul every now and then wouldn't hurt. 

It seemed that he could also communicate telepathically, at least with his minions. It tended to give him a headache though. 

He was just phasing through a tree when he found himself, yet again, face to face with the frozen book keep. 

She had changed, somehow. Her ears were pointed and tipped with black, her mouth, which had been holding a terrified scream, had fangs instead of normal human teeth. Her skin was purple, but that could be a side effect of freezing, her nose was nothing more than a nub and her neck was completely nonexistent. 

Figures. SHE always grabbed him by the neck when threatening him. 

He shook the thought aside and left the area. He had more important things to do than watch ice melt. Besides, Snatcher got the feeling that someone had entered the forest and was about to enter one of his new traps! 

_________________________________________

The poor bird tried to talk his way out of it, but Snatcher was hungry and needed a soul. As necessary as it was now, it'd take him a couple decades to get used to having to take and eat people's souls. It wasn't a pretty sight. 

The souls always try to go back to the bodies, squirming and wriggling away. They almost always made noise, too. Some sort of scream or pitiful moan or sob. 

He'd have to get used to it. 

After taking care of the body, Snatcher went to make sure everyone was safe and accounted for, he had to make sure nobody ended up back by the manor. As little as he knew these poor lost spirits, he didn't know what he'd do if one of them got trapped. So, roll call was a daily (nightly?) thing in Subcon Forest. 

After roll call, Snatcher did his final patrol before morning. He had no doubt that his minions could do it, but he preferred to make sure himself, at least for now. 

While patrolling, he heard a distant CRACK, which immediately got his attention. He went to check it out and found himself back in the burning part of the forest. 

The frozen corpse had apparently snapped in half and fallen over. She was now laying face down, severed from the top of the hips, and slightly charred from a nearby fire finally having access to the cloth on her clothes. 

He patted her out and propped her torso back on top of her legs. He pushed the whole frozen figure against a nearby fallen tree for support. Just as Snatcher was leaving, he could have sworn he heard a gasp. 

_________________________________________

She made it, but it was moving away. 

No, no it can't move. 

She pushed forward. The surface reflected less now, like it was disappearing. That was good. It made it easier. 

She dives into the finally still shape in front of her, and took her first breath in decades.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise I'll get to dialogue in a chapter or two just bear with me


	3. Greetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new resident of Subcon finally wakes up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for disappearing off the face of the earth for a bit there. Writers block hit me hard.   
Here's chapter three!

The forest was still. Dwellers floated silently through the leaves. Minions resting in their respective tree stump houses. Snatcher was sitting in his tree, reading one of the books he had managed to snag from the frozen houses left behind. 

Nothing suggested that anything was amiss in the forest, and yet, Snatcher couldn't shake the feeling. There was a constant tugging at the back of his mind that wouldn't go away. Like a headache, but less painful and more annoying. 

Eventually, Snatcher gave in. He sat the book down and floated out of his cozy home and into the forest, searching for what was wrong. 

As he drifted, he thought of what could be causing such a weird feeling. 

Was somebody in one of his traps? Did a minion get tricked into hanging themselves again? Was it… 

Snatcher looked for several minutes before finding himself in front of the thawing corpse yet again. But something was off. Have her eyes always been closed? 

He was… suspicious, to say the least. Something was up, he just did know what. Turning to leave, he paused. Snatcher drifted closer to the ground. 

Come here, he thought, I have something for you to do.

Instantly, one of his minions popped out of a shadow, "What do you need, boss?"

"I need you to stay in this area, keep an eye on that over there," he gestured to the body, "if anything happens, you come and get me, alright?" 

"Yes, boss!"

"Good"

Satisfied with his plan, he started back to his tree to settle down for the day. 

_________________________________________

Once the sun had set, the residents of Subcon were busy at work. The swamp's fence needed to be finished, and warning signs needed to be put around the path to the manor. 

Snatcher was making a fresh batch of contracts, for any poor soul to stumble into the forest, when something tugged at the corner of his conscience. He focused on it. 

Come. Moved. Stirring. Hurry. 

It must have been the minion from last night. Something was happening

He passed through a shadow and appeared a few trees away from the minion and the body. He caught the minion's eye, permitting them to leave. Snatcher rose higher into the trees, keeping the thawed corpse in view. 

She was definitely breathing. Well, breathing is subjective to the dead. Some did it due to habit, some just liked the sensation. 

Snatcher waited in the trees as she stirred, waking from such a long 'nap' could take a bit. 

Her eyes opened slowly. One of them was an empty void with only a pinprick of blue. She seemed confused, made apparent by the pinprick turning into a question mark. She tried to stand but looked taken aback by the seeming lack of legs. She shifted, as if trying to get them to reappear. Satisfied, she looked around.

Snatcher took the chance to glide out of the trees and introduce himself. She jumped at the sight of him. 

"Why hello there! I wasn't expecting you to start walking around any time soon! But now that you're up, I might as well welcome you back. I'm Snatcher, King of Subcon Forest, and you are..?"

No response. Slight fear in her eyes. 

"Can't talk? That's fine, you will eventually. In the meantime you should make your residence official," He summoned a contract. "Sign here, you're staying anyway, so you might as well."

She took the paper, looking it over. Hesitating to take the quill, she looked up at him. 

"...what… happened?"

Snatcher hummed, "Oh that's a whole story that would probably hurt your head, you'll remember soon enough, don't worry."

She held the quill with a shaking hand, pausing before signing the contract. The paper disappeared with a puff of smoke, making her flinch. 

"Welcome to Subcon! I'd advise you go to the village, it's safer there," With that, Snatcher dived into the shadows, and vanished. 

_________________________________________

She didn't know where she was. She was surprised to see that her legs had vanished, they were still there but they weren't visible. Looking around to see a burning forest and a very large ghost descending from the trees. 

He seemed nice enough. Introducing himself as "Snatcher". She was intimidated, but she couldn't exactly run, she could barely walk. He told her to sign a paper, saying that she was going to stay anyway. Reading it revealed that she would move into a " Subcon Village", stay in the forest unless told otherwise, and accept that she would help whenever told to. Something told her she didn't have a choice. She hesitantly asked what happened only to be told that she'd remember in time. 

She couldn't remember her name. She made one up on the spot. Signing the contract under "Violentte".

Snatcher left her to her own devices, telling her to find Subcon Village.


	4. Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to sit down and process whats going on.

Violentte had stumbled around the small clearing she and woken up in for a solid five minutes before she actually started to look for the village that Snatcher had mentioned. She had no clue where to start. Eventually, her wandering led her out of the flaming trees and on to a beaten path. Scurrying along the path were several small beings in ragged cloaks with glowing faces. Violentte didn't know what to call them, but one word popped into her mind. 

"Subconites," she whispered. Where had she heard it before? Not from Snatcher… 

"Heya newbie! You must be that body Chris told me about!" 

Violentte jumped, not expecting one of them to pop up from behind her. She turned to look at them. 

"What?"

"Chris told me that The Boss told him to keep an eye on a body last night! Since I've never seen you here before, that must have been you!" the Subconite rephrased. 

"Oh, I… I guess so…" she paused, "...would you mind pointing me to Subcon Village?"

They pointed her down the path. She thanked them and hurried along, eager to sit and process what was going on. 

_________________________________________

She was starting to think that the Subconite had tricked her when she finally arrived at Subcon Village. The houses were made of tree stumps and a wall of thin trees acted as a fence. The whole area was littered with large chunks of ice, big enough to swallow buildings, some of them were stained an ominous shade of red at the tips. A rattling of distant windchimes added to the atmosphere. 

Violentte stepped further into the village, pausing at the river running through the center. She looked at her own reflection in stunned silence. Her skin was a pale shade of purple, her left eye a blank void with a single shape that changed as she observed. At first it was a small slit, then target, a question mark, it finally settled on a simple iris sized dot. Her dress was tattered and burned. Her scarf was the only thing in perfect condition, black-tipped fingers shifting it to see that her head was floating above the stump that was her neck.

She flinched when she felt someone tap her arm. Glancing to her side to see another Subconite. This one had a purple bandana tied around their neck.

“Hi there! You must be new, I can tell,” the Subconite said, “don't worry, it happened to all of us.”

“Oh, um, may I ask… What happened? Why do I look like this? Why can't I remember anything?”

“Slow down, newbie, i'm only one ghost. Follow me.”

The Subconite led her to a bridge overlooking the river and sat down on the edge, gesturing for her to join them. She sat with minor difficulty, what with not having visible legs anymore.

“So, in short, you died,” they explained, “we all did. I'm a ghost possessing a doll, the Dwellers are ghosts, The Boss is a ghost, you’re a ghost. I'm going to guess that you're possessing your own body? As for why you look like that, pretty much all of us froze to death, and possessing something tends to alter the physical appearance, also that looks like frostbite.”

They paused to make sure she was with them. “Now, memories are a tricky thing. Most of us can’t remember anything. However, sometimes something comes back, it's usually just small things from life. The moments before your death are always the first thing to come back”

“What?”

“Depressing, I know.”

“Not even your own name?”

“Nope! Most of us just don't use one anymore. Some of us renamed ourselves though, to avoid confusion. You can call me Malcom, and you would be,,?”

“Um, Vi-o-lentte, but Vi’s fine too.”

“Nice to meet you, Vi. Now that you’re caught up, let's find you somewhere to stay.” 

_________________________________________

Vi was thankful that Malcom had helped her find a stump of her own, because she wouldn't have by herself. Most of the hollowed houses were either encased in ice, taken by someone else, or not completed. Malcom had led her to a particularly tall stump. They looked slightly upset to see that the door was jammed. 

“Ah, dang! It froze shut again!” they groaned while tugging on the door.

“Here, let me-”

Vi held the handle tight in both of her hands and yanked with all of her strength. A loud crack of ice split the air. Vi, Malcom, and the other Subconites nearby flinched. The door creaked open revealing a dark room with nothing but a small table, a bookshelf, and a cot. A single window was the only source of light in the room other than an extinguished torch. 

Vi stepped into the room, followed by Malcom, who gently nudged the door shut. She sat on the cot and faced the Subconite. 

"So… what do I do now?"

"Well, most of us just do whatever The Boss tells us too. We get as much free time we want, until The Boss needs us for something."

"What kind of things would those be?"

"Oh nothing much, it's usually just something along the lines of 'fix a fence', 'paint a sign', 'take this to that place'. Typical errands 'n stuff." 

The look of sudden realization appeared in their glowing eye, "Oh! Speaking of, I was supposed to be helping with those lanterns. Get comfortable! Nice meeting you!"

With that, they ran out of the room and off to wherever they were supposed to be, leaving Vi alone with her thoughts. And there were a lot of thoughts to deal with right now. 

She stood up and looked around the room for something to occupy herself with, settling on the bookshelf. She ran her hand along the empty shelves, bumping into a blank piece of wood and a piece of charcoal. 

"This might work," she said to herself before taking the two objects over to the table and writing her name on the plank. She grabbed a short, thin rope that she hadn't noticed, and tied it to the board. 

Peaking around the door, she hung the sign on a short nub that had at one point been a branch, labeling the hut as her own. 

_________________________________________

Snatcher was satisfied with the fact that nothing went terribly wrong when he had left the clearing. The corpse hadn’t turned out to be like one of HER possessed statues, and had signed that contract with little to no hesitation.

“Violentte”, she had signed it. An interesting choice of name, especially for one she had made up on the spot. It had a familiar ring to it, though he couldn't quite place why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im not dead! Sorry this chapter took so long to write, i got caught in a bit of writers block. Hopefully i can get the actual story out now!


	5. Contract

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vi gets her first contract

Weeks passed in Subcon and Vi felt like she was getting the hang of things. She helped out where she could, scaring away spiders when the subconites couldn't themselves, and assisting in chiseling away any ice barricades. She spent time with Malcom. They told her things like theories on how long it's been since they all died, things that still needed to be done, and memories from life as they came drifting back.

One night, Vi was on a walk, taking in the cool night air. If she had to guess, she'd say it was early spring. Distracted by her thoughts, she stumbled on a root and into a trap.

The world faded and a violent storm of purples and pinks took its place.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA FOOOOoooo wait… It's you” 

Vi looked up to see Snatcher towering over her, appearing much taller than any other time she'd seen him. She blushed in embarrassment, “oh, hi, um is this your trap? Sorry.”

Snatcher gave a resigned sigh, “don't be, it was bound to happen eventually. Actually, since you're here, I need you to do a little something,”

With that, he presented a contract. She read it over, seeing that she would have to bring an old bell by the well to Subcon Village so that the ice could properly be removed without breaking the bell. She signed, shouldn't take too long anyway. 

“Alright! Oh, and before you go, i'd be careful about getting too close to the water if i were you.”

“Wait wh-”

“Good luck!”

Snatcher dived into the ground, and the forest returned. Vi spun around and set out to the swamp. 

It was easy enough to find, there were plenty of wooden pathways that lead right to it. Subconites whose names escaped her pointed out the path. There was a small portion of the catwalk that hadn't been finished. She jumped over it, pausing for a moment to regain her balance. She returned her attention to her task.

The bell certainly was iced over. In fact, there was quite literally a block of ice encasing it. Luckily, it had been removed from its post way before the freeze had fallen, so Vi would have no problem taking it from where it sat. 

This contract would be a minor inconvenience at worst. 

Vi drifted across the platform and crouched down to get a good hold on the icy cube. It was heavier than she had expected, but that wasn't a problem. She stood up straight with her arms wrapped tightly around the edges, the sharp edges ripped at her sleeves. Now all that was left was getting back to the shore of the swamp. Cake.

The first thing she did wrong was hesitating. Just as she was about to jump across the patch of unfinished boardwalk, she had second thoughts about it. What if the frozen bell weighed her down? Hadn’t Snatcher said not to get too close to the water?

She jumped, and for a moment, she thought she would make it.

She was sorely mistaken.

Her feet just missed the ledge, her knees buckled, slamming her shins against the wood. She fell back into the swamp the subsequent splash soaking the already burnt hem of her dress. Sighing, she tossed the bell, hoping that it wouldn't break on impact, and began hauling herself up.

She realized her mistake the second her first hand hit the water.

Three tendril-like hands shot out of the water and wrapped around her phantom legs. Huh, so they were still solid. She noticed another two hands peak out of the water, and yanked her hands out of harm's way. Surging forward, she tried to grab the ledge of the path, but the slimy hands grabbed her shoulders and pulled her down.

The two nearby subconites noticed her struggle and rushed over, one reaching for her hand, the other turned and called for help. What they said, Vi didnt hear. Panic took over her senses. She held onto the only dry thing she could feel, which happened to be a three pound subconite. The logical part of her brain was yelling that the only thing she’d accomplish in doing so would be pulling them in with her but she couldn’t do anything else.

_________________________________________

Snatcher was just finishing a chapter in his book when a frantic minion ran up to the mouth of his tree.

“Boss! Boss, help! It's Vi!” 

“Woah woah, slow down kid,” he interrupted, bookmarking his page, “What?”

“She fell into the swamp, and Twig can’t pull her out by themself and-”

Snatcher’s eyes dilated. Wordlessly, he dropped his book and phased out of his chair, appearing moments later at the mouth of the swamp.

He raced through trees, veering to a halt a second later.

The swamp had dragged Vi down to her shoulders, her black eye an empty void. A subconite, Twig, was holding on to her hand, hooking their leg on a crack in the boardwalk. There was the sound of fabric ripping as the swampy arms tugged Vi down and Twig staggered. The water was up to her chin now. Snatcher dived toward them, plunging his hands into the water to get a hold of something that wasn’t her face. He grabbed hold of her arms and pulled back.

The swamp let go and Snatcher flew back with Vi and Twig in tow.

He quickly examined the two. Vi was fine, albeit unconscious, and Twig had a small tear along the seam of their arm.

Snatcher set Vi on the boardwalk and addressed the torn subconite.

“Alright, c’mere, I’ll have to fix that tear of yours,”

He started back to his tree, Twig trailing behind.

_________________________________________

Vi’s vision had ceased working and she had subsequently passed out, so she had no clue how she had ended up on the wooden pathway next to the still frozen bell.

She went to push herself up. Her dress was soaked in cold swamp water, sending an unpleasant shiver up her spine. Reflexively, she gasped, which then sent her into a coughing fit. She hadn’t realized how much water she had inhaled. She sat on her hands and knees for what felt like forever, coughing and dry retching.

“Stupid… physical body…” she managed through coughs. She did NEED to breathe anymore, this was just unnecessary. 

After a while, Vi got her bearings, wrung out her dress, and picked up the bell. She was going to finish this contract purely out of spite now.

She trudged out of the swamp and onto the path to the village. She checked the contract to make sure she knew where to put the bell before dropping it on the temporary work table by the river.

She then turned and walked into the river. Hey, she had to get the swamp guck out of her hair somehow.

After a lot of combing through with her hands, she stood and retreated to her house. She could tell Snatcher she was done later, right now, she just needed to sit down somewhere private.

She had just shut her door when she noticed a neatly wrapped box on the small table under the window. She untied the bow on top and lifted the lid. Inside was a small brown card covering folded purple fabric. She read the note on the card.

“Vi, I figured you’d need this. I was already sewing so I figured I might as well. I made a couple spares too, you’ll find them in your cabinet.” 

It wasn’t signed, but she didn’t need to be a detective to identify the handwriting.

She set down the card and lifted the fabric from the box, careful not to let her wet sleeves touch it. It unfolded into a purple dress with long sleeves and two side cut-outs where the legs would be. At the bottom of the box was a thin belt and her scarf. She hadn’t even realized that she wasn’t wearing it. It, luckily, wasn’t ruined like the rest of her outfit.

She stripped out of her ruined dress and put on the new one, attaching the belt at her waist, and wrapping her scarf around her stump of a neck. Vi spun around in a circle to admire the new outfit. She was in a significantly better mood than she was mere moments ago.

She opened the door and stepped back outside. She began on her way to Snatcher’s house to tell him the job was done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyyy yall,, sorry for disappearing there,, I was really excited to to write this chapter but I kinda hit a block BUT IT'S OK because I wrote all of this between the hours of 1 and 3 am!  
Allllssooo I can FINALLY give y'all the link to Vi's ref sheet! Because she's now presenting as she will for the majority of her storyline!  
https://photos.app.goo.gl/2wwxnk3jQuSBUjAV7 here it is! Just like,, copy paste it into a search bar,,,


End file.
